Surgical pad and packet



1952 c; A. HANINGTON 3,063,555

SURGICAL PAD AND PACKET Filed May 25, 1959 [EVEN/L72 C/mr/es/Z flan/hi7? aflw M17 75.

Unite Stats 3,063,555 SURGICAL PAD AND PACKET Charles A. Hanington, Freeport, N.Y., assignor to The Scholl Mfg. Co., Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of New York Filed May 25, 195), Ser. No. 815,634 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-632) This invention relates to improvements in a surgical pad and packet, and more particularly to a packet or kit of surgical pads or pad elements which may be combined one with the other to establish a surgical pad of the proper thickness desired for a particular afiliction, the invention being highly desirable in connection with the treatment of corns, callouses, cuts, abrasions, and other afllictions requiring alleviation of pressure from articles of wearing apparel, although the invention will have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, packets or kits of surgical pads or plasters have been developed containing medicated buttons, metatarsal supports' of various sizes or various sizes of pads themselves, but the arrangement was not such that a certain pad of desired thickness could be assembled from the contents of the packet. Where themedicated buttons for example were in assorted sizes, it was the intention to utilize a particular button with something to hold it in position, the same being true with assorted sizes of metatarsal supporting elements. Where complete pads of assorted sizes were found in packets, those pads were for individual use, and not for association one with another. Thus, a user could provide himself with pads or pad elements of different sizes, but could not build up a pad of desired thickness for a particular ailment in view of the fact that if he did have a kit containing pieces of different size, those pieces were not graduated for assembly one with the other. Accordingly, in many cases it was extremely difficult to purchase upon the market a corn or callous pad or the like which was of the most beneficial thickness for the users particular affliction, and whereby the user could provide himself with pads of varying thickness depending upon the response of the affliction to treatment.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a packet containing one or more series each comprising a plurality of pads or pad elements graduated in size for assemblage one upon the other; thereby the user may place one of the elements on another and so on until a resultant surgical pad providing the desired comfort or pressure relief is obtained.

Also a feature of this invention is the provision of a packet containing one or more series of graduated surgical pads, each of which may be individually used as a pad, but which are so graduated that a series may be disposed or assembled one upon the other to provide a pad of desired thickness for a particular affiiction.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a packet containing at least one series of graduated pad elements which may be assembled one upon the other until a desired thickness is obtained, regardless of the size or height of the particular afiliction being alleviated.

A further feature of the instant invention resides in the provision of a surgical pad highly suitable for the treatment of corns, callouses, bunions, and other afflictions where a relief of pressure is desired, and which embodies a series of initially separate graduated elements assembled one upon the other.

Also an object of the invention resides in the provision of a surgical pad embodying initially separate pad elements assembled one upon the other, the elements being graduated in size so as to provide a stepped bevel edge Patented Nov. 13, 1962 on the resultant assemblage, either at a certain desired location, at opposite points, or entirely around the assemblage.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a surgical pad made up of initially separate pad elements assembled one upon the other, the elements being graduated in size, but each element having an affliction receiving opening therein, with all of the openings in the assembled structure of the same or equal size.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a packet embodying principles of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the temporary carrying card with two series of graduated pads thereon removed from the packet;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a pad assembled from a series of the pads or pad elements on the structure of FIG. 2;

FIGURE 4 is a greatly enlarged transverse vertical sectional view of the structure of FIGURE 3, taken substantially as indicated by the line IVIV of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar in character to FIG. 2, showing a plurality of series of graduated pad structures of different shaping; and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a surgical pad made up from one of the series seen in FIG. 5.

As shown on the drawings:

In the first illustrated embodiment of the instant in vention, there is shown an enclosure 1 which may be a simple form of paperboard envelope and which preferably has a transparent window 2 therein so that the prospective purchaser may view the contents.

Inside the enclosure 1 is a protective backing card or sheet surfaced in any suitable manner to protect a pressure-sensitive adhesive underface on the pad elements until they are removed from the backing member for use. This backing member 3 may be a laminated paper and plastic film structure, an unsupported plastic film alone, parchmentized paper, or any other substance suitable for protecting an adhesive surface until time of use.

On the backing member 3 is one or more series of graduated pad elements, and in the illustrated instance three such elements are shown in a series and designated 4, 5 and 6. Any desired number of graduated elements may be utilized in the series, three having been arbitrarily selected for illustrative purposes only. Each of the pad elements 4, 5 and 6 is preferably of identical construction so that each element might be utilized as a surgical pad by itself. The elements 4, 5 and 6 are graduated in size, and the graduation is preferably uniform, that is the element 4 has a diameter less than the element 5 to the same extent that the element 5 has a diameter less than the element, 6. Each of the elements has an afiiiction receiving opening 7 therein, and the openings of all the elements are of equal size.

As seen best in FIGURE 4, each pad element 4, 5 or 6 may comprise a soft yielding body portion 8 carrying an adhesive spread 9 on its undersurface. This body portion may be formed of any desired or suitable material for the purpose, such as a heavily napped fabric on the order of moleskin, or a thin body of foam latex, chemical foam, felt, covered over with a thin layer of fabric or film if so desired.

When it is desired to build up a surgical pad for a particular affliction, the largest sized pad element, in this instance the element 6, is attached to the body of the user first by its adhesive undersurface, with a particular afiliction such as a corn, callous, or the like, within the opening 7. Then another of the pad elements, in this instance the element would follow the element s, is placed on top of the element 6 and secured thereto by its adhesive undersurface, the placing being as nearly uniform as possible, so that the apertures 7-7 will be in alignment. The structure so far assembled may then be tested, and if sufiicient pressure relief and comfort has not been obtained, a third or fourth pad element may be added to the structure in similar manner until the desired pressure relief is obtained for that particular afiiiction.

With the pads graduated uniformly in size, the resultant pad assembly will have what might be termed a stepped bevel edge which provides a smooth lift to the wearing apparel without the danger of the uncomfortable feeling resulting from wearing apparel riding heavily upon an abrupt pad edge. Of course, each pad element being of yieldable material will yield somewhat in response to pressure from the wearing apparel around its edge, and the stepped bevel will much more closely approximate a straight uniform slope than is illustrated in FIGURE 4.

Since the afiliction receiving openings 7 are all of the same size, it makes no difference as to the height of the particular aflliction. Should the affliction yield to pressure relief and its treatment and gradually dissipate, the next application of a pad assembly may incorporate one less pad element than the previous assembly did.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 I have shown a different form of the pad elements to illustrate that the stepped bevel edge may be provided at any desired location rather than entirely around the pad assembly and that the pad elements may be made of any desired shape or bounding contour. in this instance, the pad elements 12, 13 and 14 which may be of the same construction as those above described, are generally of oval shapes. Each of these elements has a pair of axes at right angles to each other in the same plane of different lengths. Each element is also provided with an afiiiction receiving opening 15, and all of these openings are of equal size.

In this instance, however, the graduation in size between the pad' elements is effected along the long axis only, and the pad elements are preferably of equal width on their common short axes. Thus, when the pad elements are assembled one upon the other, the stepped bevel edge of the resultant pad structure will be at upposite ends of the long axis, and the pads will be uniform at the common short axes. A pad of this nature would be placed upon the foot inside a shoe with the long axis disposed in the direction of most pressure, or such a structure could be disposed between adjacent toes so as to cause a gradual separation therebetween.

Obviously, the instant invention may be made in various sizes and shapes with the affliction receiving openings located Wherever deemed most expedient in the particular structure.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a novel surgical pad and packet by means of which a surgical pad may be built up at will by the user to satisfactorily alleviate any particular atliiction and provide the desired degree of comfort, and it is only necessary for the user to purchase a single packet to acquire any thickness of pad he may desire.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

A surgical pad packet, comprising a protective sheet, an enclosure for said sheet, and a plurality of pads each being of a yieldable material carrying an adhesive spread on one face thereof by means of which the pads are attached to said protective sheet, said pads being all of similar shape but graduated in size, each pad having an afiliction receiving opening therethrough, and all the openings being of the same size and similarly located, said pads being stacked one on top of the other in successively decreasing sizes with each upper pad adhesively attached to the next lower pad by its own adhesive face and with all openings in alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain of 1906 

